


Moon Jellies

by Selvanic



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluff, M/M, shuake, silly aquarium date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 17:12:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13722288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selvanic/pseuds/Selvanic
Summary: When Goro is forced to adjust to the new reality where he's no one special, how does he cope when someone still thinks he is? A silly, fluffy, ShuAke Valentine's Day date.





	Moon Jellies

It had been over a year since everything had ended and the name “Goro Akechi” had disappeared into obscurity. He was just another student now—though his grades were still above average—occasionally lost in the faceless crowd that populated Tokyo University. The vague memories of a blue room, a young blond girl, a bizarre man, and an agreement to give him a second chance seemed more like a dream than anything, and he was finally starting to feel like he could acclimatize to a life without the spotlight.

 

With his second term at university complete, Goro was happy to take a break and had requested a week off from Sae. She’d accepted and taken the opportunity to take a well-deserved rest herself, spending the time with Makoto and encouraging him to socialize over the break as well. He had no doubt at least one of the others would force him to, but he’d been surprised when it was Futaba who had reached out first.

 

He glanced across the counter at Sojiro, clearing his throat softly to catch the proprietor’s attention. “Do you know if Futaba will be here soon? I hate to bother you, but she’s not answering my messages.”

 

The man blinked at the boy over the rim of his glasses. “Futaba? She said she was going to spend some time with that Kitagawa kid. Said he has a new exhibit she wanted to see.” He smiled crookedly. “I never thought I’d see the day Futaba double-booked.”

 

Goro flushed slightly and shook his head, feeling more than a little embarrassed. Futaba was normally more organized than that. And it still didn’t seem right that she wouldn't answer his messages.

 

As the former detective worked to piece the puzzle together, he heard the soft jingling of the bell above the door as someone entered the café. Expecting it to be one of Leblanc’s regulars, he didn’t bother to look up from his coffee cup. None of them ever bothered him, and he hardly saw the need to break that pattern now.

 

However, when the seat next to his was pulled out, he knew it couldn’t be anyone who frequented the café often. At least until they spoke.

 

“Is this seat taken?”

 

Goro’s head snapped up so quickly he nearly pitched himself out of his seat. He could feel his jaw go slack as he stared at the boy sitting next to him, smiling as if it was the most natural thing to do while the former detective floundered like a fish out of water. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Sojiro laugh, but his attention was fixed entirely on those grey eyes, that mess of hair, and that damnably cocky smile.

 

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Akira chuckled softly. “Or have I changed that much since you last saw me?”

 

“No. You haven’t changed a bit.” Goro shook his head, forcing himself to find his composure once more. It was proving harder than he anticipated; all of his usual confidence had been scattered like a house of cards in a windstorm. “I just…didn’t expect to see you. The others told me you’d gone back home.”

 

Akira shrugged with his infuriatingly natural grace. “I did. And I took some extra courses to graduate faster. I start university in April.” The former leader of the Phantom Thieves cocked his head, a mock innocence barely covering the laugher in his eyes. “Didn’t the others tell you? I told them I’d be arriving today.”

 

 _So that’s why Futaba asked me to meet her here._ Goro made a note to shake the girl the next time he saw her; this was underhanded. He did his best not to show any more weakness than he already had though, fixing his best smile in place. “No, they hadn’t mentioned it to me. I suppose you’ll be looking for them while you’re here.” _We, after all, haven’t spoken since that wall came down between us_.

 

“Yeah, we’ve made plans.” Akira nodded, shifting his weight and adopting a posture that, on anyone else, might have looked lazy or uncomfortable. Somehow, on him, it just looked natural and relaxed. “But I’ve got some free days in my schedule too.”

 

Humming a soft affirmation, Goro turned his attention to his now lukewarm coffee, trying not to stare for too long at the boy next to him. How could Akira speak so casually to him? How could the other just act like nothing had happened when Goro had tried to kill him? Worse yet, how could Akira talk to him like they were _friends_?

 

“I suppose you’ll want the time to reacclimatize to Tokyo,” Goro offered, hating how forced each syllable sounded.

 

“Maybe,” Akira replied, offering quiet but honest thanks for the coffee he was handed. “But I prefer to have company for that.”

 

Goro heard more than saw the other boy move, shifting enough to face his former enemy. The older boy stubbornly refused to look up, instead taking a drink of his coffee and politely requesting a top off. Maybe if he didn’t say anything more—

 

“So what about you?” Akira’s voice cut into his thoughts, pulling his full attention back to younger man. “Any plans for the break?”

 

Those damn eyes were still laughing, but not _at_ him. No; there was something else there. As if Akira was happy to see him, but still somehow afraid that Goro might disappear if he looked away.

 

Tentatively, Goro shook his head. “Nothing in particular, no. I was just going to see how things panned out.”

 

“Why don’t you and I take Friday to catch up with each other? It’s been a long time after all.”

 

He said it so naturally, so easily, as if the last time they’d seen each other hadn’t been what it was. Goro never had been able to make sense of him.

 

And yet, before he could stop himself, his mouth was already forming an answer. “I don’t see why not. Friday it is.”

 

Akira smiled, then, and the expression seemed to be a combination of genuine excitement and relief. “Great,” he said, “I’ll meet you here. Noon sound ok?”

 

Goro nodded, pulling out his phone so that he could input the information into his calendar. When he pulled his schedule up, however, he paused, frowning for a moment before looking back at the boy next to him. “Kurusu-kun—“

 

“Akira’s fine,” the former leader interjected.

 

Shaking his head again, Goro started over. “ _Akira_ then, Friday is Valentine’s Day.”

 

The other boy just stared at him, seemingly waiting for his next point. When it didn’t come, he pressed gently for an explanation. “Mmhm,” he nodded. “And?”

 

Trying not to get frustrated or flustered, Goro held Akira’s eyes with his own. “Don’t you have a date?” he all but bit out through his teeth.

 

Akira grinned broadly, as if Goro had said exactly what he’d been hoping he would. “I do now.”

 

The older boy flushed and sputtered, sitting back sharply as if he’d been slapped in the face. He struggled to find something to say, some kind of retort, but his words tripped over themselves and tangled in his mouth. Eventually, he managed to get out a terse, “You’re insufferable,” which he refused to admit sounded as petulant as it did.

 

From the other side of the counter, Sojiro laughed. “Real smooth, kid.”

 

Akira seemed to ignore both of them, still watching Goro with that same nervous anticipation. “So…Friday at noon, here at the café. Sound good?”

 

Huffing irritably, still feeling like his face was burning and his heart was going to lodge itself in his throat, Goro punched the information into his calendar. “Friday at noon,” he said as levelly as he could manage. “I’ll be here.”

 

In the days leading up to their ‘date’, Goro managed to recompose himself and do the mental gymnastics required to make sense of Akira’s proposal. The former leader of the Phantom Thieves had always been clever and had actively worked to keep him on his toes. He’d somehow managed to play him the entire time after all, never giving him a straight answer and leading him on while the detective had thought he’d been the one in control. This had to be another ploy. This had to be another attempt to mislead him, to catch him unawares, and to try to understand where they stood now that everything was ‘over’. There could be no other explanation.

 

With that mystery solved, Goro felt a renewed sense of self-assurance as he walked into Leblanc a comfortable ten minutes early. He knew Akira would be there; as far as he could tell, the other boy didn’t have anywhere else to stay.

 

“He’s still upstairs,” Sojiro offered dryly before the door had bumped closed. “I’ll get you a coffee while you wait.”

 

Goro laughed pleasantly and shook his head. “It’s quite alright. I prefer to enjoy your coffee, not rush it.”

 

The look the older man gave him over the rim of his glasses told the former detective that the proprietor didn’t believe him, but was willing to let the subject drop. Sojiro clearly had no patience for the boy’s forced politeness—especially as he had been involuntarily privy to many of the other Thieves’ efforts to get Goro to open up—but he was also clearly unwilling to fight a teenager over being closed off.

 

Without another word exchanged between the two of them, Goro took his usual seat and Sojiro went back to keeping his business clean. The soft drone of the television kept the silence from being uncomfortable, but Goro couldn’t help glancing at the screen every now and again. How many times had he been on there, spouting scripted nonsense or carefully curated attacks and challenges knowing that at least one of the Thieves would hear him? How many times had Akira been in his place, staring at the screen and weighing the validity and honesty of the words falling out of smiling faces?

 

No. He didn’t miss that much at all.

 

“Sorry.” Akira’s soft apology cut through the white noise, calling Goro’s attention almost immediately. The other boy stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in what looked like comfortable casual clothing. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long. Futaba needed help hooking something up.”

 

The former detective shook his head and got to his feet, the mask he’d fallen out of practice using carefully held in place. It felt less natural than it used to, but he figured he could still manage. “Not at all. I’m frequently early.”

 

A shadow passed over Akira’s expression for a moment, and it seemed like a light behind the other’s eyes dimmed. However, the hesitation didn’t last more than a moment, and the other boy was soon standing in front of Goro.

 

“I was thinking we could go to the aquarium,” Akira offered. “I didn’t get a lot of chances to see it the last time I was here.”

 

Goro nodded and gestured for the younger man to lead the way. He watched Akira’s movements and expressions carefully as they made their way to the station together, exchanging the occasional pieces of meaningless small talk. Maybe this time he’d be able to read something beyond pleasantries and what had seemed at the time like patient tolerance.

 

Unfortunately, his plan seemed to be backfiring. The more pleasant conversation he made, the quieter Akira became. He would try to ask the younger man about school, about his accelerated program, about the courses he was enrolling in at university, and every time his inquiries would be met by those shadowed grey eyes before being answered as simply as possible. Somehow, something had changed, and Goro couldn’t place his finger on what. This was exactly how he’d acted before.

 

Eventually, the two of them fell into an awkward silence, standing side-by-side on the train as it took them towards their destination. Had anyone seen them, there would have been no way for them to know that the two had gone out together with the intention of ‘catching up’.

 

When the train announced their stop, Akira caught Goro’s eyes with his own before leading them out through the crowd. There were an unsurprising number of young couples moving around them, and even some young families undoubtedly headed to the aquarium as well. The crowd didn’t seem to deter the former leader of the Phantom Thieves, however, and without looking back the younger man weaved through the crowd with surprising ease.

 

Goro struggled to keep up for a moment, managing only when the crowd began to thin out some. By the time they left the station proper and were out on the street, he’d caught up properly, falling into step beside Akira easily.

 

“It’s quite busy today,” he observed, watching the other out of the corner of his eye.

 

Akira glanced around like he hadn’t noticed. “I suppose so, huh? I didn’t think the aquarium would be such a popular place for Valentine’s Day.”

 

“We could go somewhere else if you—“

 

“Hey Akechi,” Akira interrupted, stopping them just outside of the aquarium’s large entrance. “I want to ask you something.”

 

Caught off guard by the sudden shift in the other’s demeanour, Goro stared for a moment before quickly putting his pleasant mask back on. “Go ahead, Akira.”

 

The younger boy stared at the former detective for a long moment, searching for something, those dark eyes probing, prodding, looking for a weakness. “Ann says you let her call you ‘Goro’.”

 

“That’s not really a question, Akira—“

 

Ignoring Goro’s attempt at deflection, Akira continued to push. “Futaba too. So what about me?”

 

Opening and closing his mouth several times, Goro struggled to find an answer. The others had pestered him relentlessly over the past year until he’d given in. He hadn’t known a moment’s peace until he agreed to their terms of ‘friendship’, or, at the very least, pleasant acquaintanceship. But Akira was different. He always had been. Where Goro had known he could easily fool, manipulate, or outwit the others, Akira had been an uncertainty, a wild card.

 

And now, alone with him, with just the two of them and nothing between them any longer, Goro didn’t know what to do.

 

After a long moment, his mouth began to form words for him once more. “I suppose it’s fine, if you really want to.”

 

Something in Akira’s face softened then, as if Goro’s moment of panic had been what he’d been looking for earlier. A soft smile tugged at the younger man’s lips, and for a moment the detective felt his chest tighten. No one had ever smiled at him like that before. Just what was Akira after?

 

“Come on Goro,” the former leader said, gesturing to the door, “The line isn’t getting any shorter.”

 

It was hardly the first time someone had said his first name. In fact, he’d almost grown sick of hearing it when one or the other of the Thieves whined it at him in an attempt to get something from him. But when Akira said it…The way the other boy’s voice formed the simple syllables…For a moment, he felt like someone special. It was no wonder he’d been such an effective leader.

 

Absently brushing some of his hair behind his ear, Goro tried not to think too much about how warm he felt as he walked with Akira into the cool and comfortable building. Hopefully, being surrounded by water, fish, and crowds of people would help distract him enough to not be quite so…distracted.

 

Akira insisted on paying for their admission, and once they were inside, they did their best to avoid the larger crowds, seeking out exhibits that were less popular with the children or ones that had been abandoned between waves of visitors. The younger boy was surprisingly interested in fish, and Goro found himself pulling out what pieces of trivia and obscure knowledge he could to try and—what? Impress Akira? No, that would be ridiculous. He was just trying to keep conversation going.

 

However, despite both of their efforts, silence gradually fell between them again. It began to feel a lot like one step forward and two steps back, as neither of them seemed willing to address the looming unanswered question: what were they now?

 

As they reached the jellyfish exhibit—a darkened room near the bottom floor filled with bottom-lit cylindrical tanks—Akira suddenly stopped. They were, surprisingly, two of very few people in the otherwise large room.

 

“Goro.” The younger boy’s tone lacked much of its earlier levity, and the seriousness stopped the former detective in his tracks.

 

Swallowing around a lump in his throat, Goro did his best to keep his tone light, though he couldn’t help the cracks of hesitation that broke through. “Yes, Akira? What is it?”

 

Akira turned to stare into the tank of large jellyfish brainlessly allowing the tank’s current to push them about. The gently coloured light of the tank reflected off of his glasses, hiding his expression, and as he laid a hand on the glass, Goro felt his stomach knot.

 

“Would you rather wear one of these on your head, or six of those smaller ones around your neck?”

 

Goro almost choked on nothing. He stared stupidly for a long moment, unsure if he’d heard correctly, but when Akira waved a hand between the two tanks in question, the former detective could think of nothing to do but laugh.

 

He laughed harder than he’d ever laughed before. His sides began to hurt and tears came to his eyes, but he couldn’t make it stop. The seriousness on Akira’s face, the way he’d drawn the question out, the absolute absurdity of it all when there was so much more to ask…Goro held his sides as he buckled forward, struggling to catch his breath as the laughing fit began to subside.

 

When he finally managed to right himself, wiping the last remaining tears with the back of his hand, he stared at the other boy who’d waited expectantly and shook his head. “Of all the things…”

 

Akira grinned, the smile wide and honest and somehow welcoming. “You still haven’t answered me,” he teased.

 

Trying not to laugh again, the older boy asked, “What were my options again?”

 

“This big guy on your head, like a hat,” the other replied, tapping the glass gently, “Or six of those little guys over there like a necklace.”

 

“I’m going to get hurt either way.”

 

Akira shook his head, closing the distance between them just a bit. “I’m working under the assumption that they won’t hurt you. They’ll just be…” He paused, looking back at the tank. “Well, they’ll be dead jellyfish.”

 

Goro shook his head, glancing between the two tanks once more. “I suppose, in that case, the six around my neck. I wouldn't want to try to wash dead jellyfish out of my hair.”

 

“Really?” Akira cocked his head. “I guess that suits you. Now it’s your turn.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, Goro considered the other boy for a long moment. “My turn to do what?”

 

“Ask a question,” the younger boy replied. “See if you can stump me.”

 

While it was an odd request, Goro did his best to comply, a part of him desperately wanting to keep that smile on Akira’s face. He looked around, considering the tanks around them, but there were only jellyfish, and he didn’t want to seem like he was copping out. So he started walking, noticing that Akira fell in step next to him with natural ease.

 

After everything that had happened, this was the last thing Goro had expected. It had been strange enough when the others had been willing to forgive him, to try and stand by their offer to make him one of their own, but for their leader to do the same…He supposed it made sense, in a roundabout way, but he was still left wondering ‘why’. What had he done to deserve this chance?

 

“Come on, Goro.” Akira interrupted his thoughts again, his voice closer than Goro expected. Apparently, while the older boy had been thinking, the younger had snuck in next to him. Almost intimately close. “Stop stalling.”

 

Goro flushed deeply, stepping back to put some distance between them and quickly looking around. They were at the final set of tanks for the aquarium. “Ok, “ he started tentatively. “Would you rather…spend a night in the tank of spider crabs, or in the octopus tank?”

 

“Octopus. Hands down.” Akira shuddered, looking at the crabs with thinly veiled disgust. “I hate those things unless I’m eating them.”

 

The former detective laughed softly. “You’re not concerned you’ll wake up wrapped up in an octopus blanket?”

 

“I am,” Akira nodded. “But not nearly as much as I am about waking up covered in giant spider crabs. The idea’s nightmare fuel. The octopus might just feel like a really solid hug.” He wrinkled his nose disparagingly at the crabs once more before nodding towards the last glass tunnel that lead to the gift shop. “Shall we, though? I want to buy you something tacky.”

 

Goro rolled his eyes but agreed, comfortably matching the other boy’s pace and staying close at hand. The gift shop itself was a press of human bodies, full of children who couldn’t make up their minds and couples looking for gifts that could pass as romantic. Akira, on the other hand, made a beeline for the display of novelty ties.

 

“Pick two that you’d wear, and then I’ll buy the one I think is better,” he ordered, pointing at the rack of brightly coloured and patterned pieces of silk. “And no cheating and picking the solid colour ones, or you don’t get a choice at all.”

 

Goro arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “And what if I refuse to wear any of them or participate in this silly farce at all?”

 

“Then I’ll buy you the absolute ugliest one here and tell Sae-san that you have to wear it.”

 

Sighing heavily, Goro resigned himself to losing this particular battle. He sifted through the rack carefully, wrinkling his nose at the gaudier ones until he finally found two that were somewhat acceptable. One was a dark grey with small penguins in sailor hats printed on it, while the other was navy blue with dolphins and constellations. Both of the patterns were small enough that, unless someone scrutinized the tie, they were likely to go mostly unnoticed. And the colours were dark enough that they wouldn’t draw too much unwanted attention.

 

Akira took the ties from him and looked at them each closely, holding each up to Goro for a long moment before finally nodding his head. “The dolphins. Definitely the dolphins.” He smiled then, that same soft, warm, inviting smile as before. “And you have to send me a picture of you wearing it at work.”

 

“Fine,” Goro huffed, though the heat was creeping up his neck again. “But now it’s my turn to buy you something ridiculous.”

 

The other boy’s face lit up. “Can it be a stuffed animal?”

 

“It doesn’t really work if you pick it for yourself, Akira.”

 

“I’ll let you pick the worst made one there.”

 

It was amazing what Akira’s eyes were capable of. One moment, they were shadowed, swallowing and obscuring his emotions. The next they would laugh, either mockingly or warmly, but always genuinely. Sometimes it felt like they could see through anything, picking apart and dissecting whatever fell before them. And at other times still, they looked at Goro like they were full of exaggerated pleading and a deliberate attempt to look innocent. How could there be so much in one person?

 

“Fine,” Goro sighed, trying his best to seem put out. “Let’s go get you a stuffed animal then.”

 

Akira grinned and led the way across the gift shop to the wall of stuffed animals. There were a lot to choose from, from otters and penguins to dolphins and whales. Much to Goro’s dismay, there were no spider crabs, but by digging around he managed to find the most lopsided and poorly constructed whale shark he’d ever seen. The seams didn’t line up properly, the eyes were uneven, and the spots were haphazard at best.

 

“Here,” he said, holding it out to the younger boy. “This will be yours.”

 

“He’s perfect,” Akira laughed. “I’ll treasure him forever.”

 

While he knew the other was probably just saying it for show, or to be funny, Goro couldn’t help the fluttery feeling in his chest and the heat that made its way into his face. It was the first time he’d ever picked out a gift for anyone with any kind of thought put into it, and it felt good to have it appreciated, even if it was just a silly toy.

 

As he followed Akira up to the checkout and the two had to wait in line, he took a moment to stare at the stuffed animal in his hands and think about how the day had transpired. When he’d tried to close himself off to Akira, the other had done the same to him. And when Akira had confronted him and forced him back out from behind the mask, the former leader of the Phantom Thieves had similarly relaxed. And yet, whenever either of them was given enough time to think, that wall had come down again, forcing them apart.

 

A voice echoed somewhere in the recesses of his memory.

 

_There cannot be two wild cards._

 

Goro shook his head, huffing softly and trying not to put too much thought into the vague recollection. Nothing in that place had made sense, and he only had bits and pieces left, fragments of agreements made and ‘truths’ revealed. And the dull sense that he’d been a mistake, an unexpected complication, yet again.

 

He felt a gentle tug on his arm and he realized that it was his and Akira’s turn to pay for their souvenirs. He moved to the available cashier and paid for the overpriced toy, declining the bag and moving to meet Akira at the exit. There was concern on the other’s face when he reached the younger man, and he did his best to dispel it with a smile.

 

“Sorry if I kept you waiting.”

 

Akira shook his head, searching Goro’s eyes with his own for a moment before nodding towards the door. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

 

Once again, most everything in the park was surprisingly busy, and it took them quite a bit of time to even find a free food cart, which turned out to be serving crepes. They each ordered something relatively simple, neither looking to overdose on sugar just yet despite the cart owner’s push for the ‘Valentine’s Day Special’. With food in hand, the two of them were lucky enough to find a free bench nearby in the shade and gladly took the opportunity to get off of their feet.

 

After they’d both had time to eat, Akira shifted his weight so that his body was turned more naturally towards Goro. His eyes were searching again, but the barest hint of a smile suggested it wasn’t as concerned as it had been earlier. “So…you having fun?”

 

Goro considered the other boy for a moment, pressing his lips together as he rolled the question over in his head. He looked at the crepe in his hand and the lopsided stuffed animal on the bench next to him. He thought about the absurd question about the jellyfish and the oddly demanding ‘request’ to be allowed to use his first name. And he thought about all of the times he’d made Akira smile, genuinely smile, with something as simple as being himself.

 

“I suppose so, yes,” he finally answered, trying to ignore the tightness in his chest. “Though I can’t say we’ve done much ‘catching up’ as you’d first proposed.”

 

Akira sat back, picking at his crepe a bit more. “No, I guess not.” He glanced sidelong at the older boy. “But what’s there to say besides the obvious?”

 

As much as it pained him to ask, as much as he desperately wanted to pretend like things could just be the way they were, Goro knew better. If he didn’t get his answer now, he’d never be able to stop wondering; quiet moments alone would never let him be. As if he didn't have enough trouble with that already.

 

Unable to look Akira in the eye, Goro instead focused on the half a crepe still in his hands. “I,” he started tentatively, “would like to know _why_. After everything that happened—“

 

“If we’d met sooner, we could have been friends, right?”

 

The sudden rush of heat into Goro’s face almost made him dizzy. Akira had remembered that? Of all things to take away from that wretched engine room, _that’s_ what the other boy had held on to?

 

Akira pressed on, either ignoring or ignorant of Goro’s embarrassment. “We didn’t want to leave you behind like that. None of us did.” His hands tightened on the paper wrapper, gently crushing the remainder of his crepe. “When Futaba said you were gone we…I…” The darker haired boy shook his head, eyes burrowing into Goro’s. “I was furious. With myself. With you. It wasn’t fair. It shouldn’t have had to end like that.”

 

Goro laughed, though the sound was tight and bitter. “I’d brought it on myself, Akira. And I’d made my decision; there was no more room for me in what you were doing.”

 

“You’re wrong.” The denial was sharp and insistent, Akira’s eyes hard and unmoving. “There was always room for you on our team. You just refused to see it.”

 

Goro’s chest hurt. How could Akira say such things so easily, with so much vehemence? How could he sound so certain?

 

“Goro,” the other continued, moving closer to the older boy, “We were played. We both were. It was all some stupid game, and I couldn’t break the rules quick enough to get you out of it. And I hated myself for it for a long time. I hated that that _thing_ actually managed to pit us against one another.” Akira reached out then, though his hand stopped shy of actually touching Goro. “You should’ve been allowed to fight back like the rest of us. And I’m glad that, in the end, it didn’t get what it wanted at all.”

 

Staring at Akira’s hand—so close but not quite there—Goro found it hard to breathe. Of course it had all been one big cosmic joke, one big farce to make him fight the only person he’d ever felt might actually understand him. And of course he’d come out the loser. But this time, he wasn’t being left behind; he wasn’t being left to claw his way back out by himself. This time, he could take the hand being offered to him.

 

And no god, false or otherwise, was going to stop him from doing so.

 

Goro shifted his weight, leaning so that his shoulder touched Akira’s. His face was burning and his hands had all but turned what was left of his crepe to mush in its paper wrapping, but there was also a deep sense of comfort, of belonging, and of quiet. It was the same sense of peace he’d first felt when talking with Akira at Leblanc the first time.

 

“Akira,” he said softly, not sure the other boy could hear him, “I don’t know what to say…”

 

Leaning back into Goro’s weight, Akira sighed and the older boy could all but hear that beautiful smile in the other’s response. “It’s fine. I think I get it.” He moved his free hand then, resting it lightly on Goro’s leg. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my girlfriend for putting up with my whining and editing this for me. I couldn't do this without her.
> 
> This was supposed to be posted on Valentine's Day, but due to my inability to write anything less than 5,000 words—apparently—it's now four days late. Additionally, there was, in the original draft, 3,000 words of explanatory backstory justifying how Goro had gotten a job and connected with the other Phantom Thieves before finally seeing Akira again, but I cut it all out. If anyone is interested in reading it, I can always attach it as its own separate chapter. 
> 
> Otherwise, just know it didn't make the cut.


End file.
